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Chapter 7, Section 1 The Renaissance Begins
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The Italian Renaissance
Renaissance means “rebirth” Period from A.D Europeans rediscovered Roman and Greek art, literature, and architecture People became more secular, meaning more interested in this world than the next Centered in Florence, Italy
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Italian Renaissance cont.
Italy was surrounded by the ruins of the Roman civilization Many Italian cities had become extremely wealthy Italy’s population was centered in the cities, rather than the countryside They shared ideas about art, literature, ideas, etc.
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Rise of Italy’s City-States
Italy was unable to consolidate into one large country The Roman Catholic Church worked to stop the rise of a powerful kingdom City-states developed and became very wealthy They had enough money to hire soldiers, fleets of ships, and even lend to kings
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Italy’s City-States Grow in Wealth
Most of the city-states had port cities They grew very wealthy through trade The materials and goods imported from around the world attracted artisans The Crusades and the Mongol empire helped to create a large trade network throughout Europe As wealth grew, demand for the luxury items produced by Italian artisans and they grew wealthy
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Marco Polo Marco Polo, a merchant from Venice, traveled to China and wrote of his experiences His book became a best seller and increased the interest in China and encouraged people to buy Chinese goods
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The Wealth of Florence Florence was the first city-state to grow wealthy, originally from selling wool from England Florence grew even more wealthy after they turned to banking Bankers in Florence were experts in the value of coins, and they lent money and charged interest The most successful of bankers were the Medici family, who had branch banks as far away as London
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Venice Venice was another wealthy city
They were known for their sailing and shipbuilding Built on swampy islands, Venetians used long wooden poles into mud to support their buildings They used canals, rather than roads, to make their way around the city
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Urban Noble Merchants grew in power
Money from trade became more acceptable Wealthy land nobles married into wealthy merchant families
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How Were Italian City-States Run
At first, most city-states were republics After times of war, many city states gave power to one man In Venice, the man was known as the duke, or doge In Florence, the Medici family gained control Italians developed diplomacy, or negotiating with other countries
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Cont. Nicollò Machiavelli- wrote The Prince
In The Prince, Machiavelli claimed that people were self-centered and greedy. He argued that a ruler was justified in lying, or even killing, to maintain power.
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